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The Heroes (film)
The Heroes is a 2007 American computer-animated adventure comedy-drama film produced by Blue Sky Studios as its fourth feature film and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is directed by Chris Wedge and co-directed by Carlos Saldanha from a story by Michael J. Wilson and features Margot Robbie (in her film debut), Ken Jeong, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jenny Slate, Channing Tatum, Alicia Fox (in her film debut), Rainn Wilson, and Kristin Chenoweth, with Mickey Rooney and Georgia Engel in supporting roles. In the film, an orphanage owner (Mickey Rooney) tells a story about two teens, named Kim and Jason, who lost their parents in a car accident, and also save a young magician's apprentice named Nicholas from an evil spirit's influence along with other new friends and the queen of the Forest of Feelings. Wedge began development of the film in 2003 after the success of Ice Age the previous year. Later on, the company chose Fox to produce. Production lasted eight months, with a production budget of $60 million, and took place in Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea. The film premiered on October 7, 2007, in Washington, D.C., and was released in North America on October 12, 2007. Upon release, The Heroes was met with mostly positive reviews and was nominated at the 80h Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, losing to Ratatouille ''and ''Computeropolis 2. It was a box office success by grossing over $435 million. The film's success was soon followed by a sequel, The Heroes 2, in 2012. Plot The Cherrywoods are a middle-aged couple who run an orphanage. Mr. Cherrywood tells the orphans a story about two teens named Kim and Jason. In the story, Kim and Jason, two lonely orphaned children, lost their parents in a car accident. Glory and Bill introduce themselves and remind the teens of their ambitions, but neither of them are interested. At an amusement park, Chrissy spots a magician's apprentice named Nicholas. While unloading a trunk of goods for his master, the "Great Fettucini", Nicholas finds an old book with a diary-style lock. When he unlocks it, an evil spirit appears as a woman's face, and starts corrupting him. With his help, it lays waste to the park, and begins a quest to remove all caring from the world. Back at Glory's house, some of the other teens are working on their new invention: the Rainbow Rescue Beam, a portal that can send any one to Earth and back. They interfere with it and bring forth a group of unexpected visitors: Glory, Bill, Kim, and Jason. They introduce themselves to the teens, and give them a tour of their home. Chrissy returns on his now out of control Rainbow Roller just before a "Cloud Quake" caused by the spirit, which ruins their home. She informs the others of Nicholas' troubles on Earth. Using the Rainbow Rescue Beam, he sends Kim and Jason to the park, along with Glory and Bill. They end up in the Forest of Feelings when the portal malfunctions. From a nearby river, the rest of the bears begin searching for them aboard a cloud ship called the Cloud Clipper, leaving behind Maggie and the babies in their home. Within the Forest, the teens are introduced to the queen of the Forest of Feelings. Later on, the others discover more of these creatures. During their stay, the spirit attacks them in several disguises: a spearfish, tree, and eagle. After they defeat it, they venture back to Earth to save Nicholas from its influence. At the park, Nicholas obtains the ingredients for his spell against the children and the creatures. After he casts it, they and company engage in a long battle. They shoot beams of bright light on him, forming their "Stare"; the Cousins help with their "Call" – Maggie and Bill arriving in time to help after fixing the Rainbow Rescue Beam. As the creatures' power drains away, Nicholas and the spirit briefly regain control. After Kim and Jason assist him, he finally realizes his misdeeds. With Bill's help, he closes the spirit's face back into the book and saves himself, the park, and the world. He thanks the group and reunites with Fettucini, while Chrissy inducts the queen of the Forest of Feelings into a teenager, and Kim and Jason find new parents who take them to one of Nicholas' shows. As Mr. Cherrywood finishes his story, it is revealed that he is actually Nicholas and that his wife is actually Kim (though neither mentions what became of Jason). Cast Above. Production Development After the success of Ice Age, Chris Wedge confirmed in January 2003 that Ice Age would be the first in what is envisioned as an animated film series. In March 2003, they announced more movies (including Robots, a sequel to Ice Age, and an adaption of Dr. Seuss' book, Horton Hears a Who!). In October 2003, after the production of Robots was started, 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios announced that a film, under the working title Teens Save the World, was already underway, with Chris Wedge directing. In December 2003, it was announced that it was scheduled for release on March 30, 2007. In January 2004, Michael J. Wilson joined to co-write the script. In March 2004, the film's release date was pushed to October 12, 2007. In May 2004, the film's new title was The Heroes. Wilson chose to rename the film from its previous title, Teens Save the World, because the title says "Saves the World" on the title. In July 2004, Blue Sky Studios reported the film's plot: "An orphanage owner (Mickey Rooney) tells a story about two lonely teens named Kim and Jason, who lost their parents in a car accident, and also save a young magician's apprentice named Nicholas from an evil spirit's influence." In September 2006, Fox revealed a first look at the film. Production began on July 31, 2006. Production ended on November 30, 2006. Casting On July 3, 2006, it was announced that Margot Robbie and Rainn Wilson joined the voice cast. By July 15, actors Ken Jeong and Jenny Slate joined the cast. On July 22, Bryce Dallas Howard, Channing Tatum, Georgia Engel, Alicia Fox and Kristin Chenoweth have joined the cast. Writing Coming soon! Animation C''oming soon!'' Soundtrack : Main article: The Heroes (film)/Soundtrack On September 19, 2006, Wilson announced that Hans Zimmer would be composing the music for the film. The soundtrack was released on October 2, 2007. Release The Heroes made its world premiere at the capitol building in Washington, D.C. on October 7, 2007, and held its European premiere on October 11 at the Vue West End in London. The film was released in North America on October 12, 2007. Marketing Various companies made promotional tie-ins with the film. Burger King released toys for the film in October 2007. A video game based on the film was made for the Xbox 360, Windows, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Greeny Arcade 256, Nintendo DS, and Game Boy Advance. This is the last Blue Sky Studios video game to be released on the GBA. Trailers A teaser poster for the film was released on November 27, 2006. The film's official teaser trailer first debuted on December 12, 2006 on the home media release of GoAnimate: The Movie, and was attached to Night at the Museum, TMNT,'' and ''Meet the Robinsons. The official theatrical trailer was released on May 18, 2007, and was attached to films such as Shrek the Third, Surf's Up, Ratatouille Computeropolis 2, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoniex, The Simpsons Movie, Underdog, Daddy Day Camp, and Mr. Bean's Holiday. The following month, TV spots were also aired. Home media The Heroes was released on DVD and HD DVD on February 5, 2008. The DVD and Blu-ray combo pack features a new animated short film, Glory and Bill's Undercover Mission. A Blu-ray version was released on May 20, 2008, on Blu-ray 3D on August 2, 2011, and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray on November 15, 2016. Reception Critical reception The Heroes received generally positive reviews from critics, with many considering it to be better than Ice Age. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 84% approval rating with an average rating of 7.3/10 based on 186 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "The elements seem familiar to fans of Ice Age, but The Heroes offers some more action scenes, humor, and its fantastic animation with a batch of cool characters." On another review aggregator Metacritic, the film has a weighted average rating of 80 out of 100 based on 47 professional reviews published in newspapers, magazines and in highly regarded Internet sites, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars saying it's "wonderous, entertaining, hilarious, and it's full with enjoyment," while Richard Corliss of Time Magazine gave a positive review and called it "laughably fun." Max Nicholson of IGN commented, "The Heroes lives up to the first groundbreaking box office hit, except the plot is very familiar." James Rocchi of MSN Movies gave the film four out of five stars, calling it "a film that is way better and cooler than Ice Age, with full of hilarious scenes with some action and more." A.O. Scott of The New York Times praised the film for being able to balance out the action sequences and strong storytelling, writing that "The Heroes has a lot of better sequences than the original Ice Age, with some gags, action scenes, and it has the usual wit from the first Ice Age." In contrast to the praise it received, even in some positive reviews, some critics said that the film wasn't as good as the original film. Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, saying "Amazing films like Toy Story and Shrek showed the laughs of more fun scenes; The Heroes doesn't quite have usual gags as the original 20th Century Fox hit." Box office The film grossed $162.9 million in North America and $272.1 million in other territories. The film closed on February 14, 2008, for a total gross of $435.3 million worldwide, against a budget of $60 million. Accolades Sequel Main article: The Heroes 2 A sequel, titled The Heroes 2, was released on June 15, 2012. It is produced by the same team that was behind Ice Age: The Meltdown. In the film, a character called The Great Wishing Star tells a story of the teens going to summer camp along with there new friend Nicolas. Kim and Jason lead there selves, as they come to the aid of Christy, a young orphan camper who is tempted by an evil shape-shifting figure named Dark Heart. Most of the main cast, Margot Robbie, Ken Jeong, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jenny Slate, Channing Tatum, Alicia Fox, Rainn Wilson, and Kristin Chenoweth reprised their roles. The new cast also includes Mila Kunis as Christy, Alec Baldwin as Dark Heart, Scarlett Johansson as Dawn and Jake T. Austin as John. Category:Events Category:Templates Category:Template documentation Category:Items Category:Templates/Infobox Category:Templates/Navbox